Jennifer Walker, RN, BSN, of the pediatric nurse & mom duo "Moms on Call" (you remember their book and the fantastic toddler seminar they offer online?! They will soon be offering a stellar online baby seminar!) recently shared her thoughts on being overprotective of our children and I had to extract some thoughts for the "Germaphobic Mom" and share it with you.
Jennifer Says:
"Can we hermetically seal our children in a bacteria free bubble?The scene is all too familiar - a typical household, happy children playing while the mom looks on in bliss. Switch to a close-up of the counter top and the animation of bacteria fe re stering and lying in wait to infect the clueless family with all sorts of unknown diseases. Cleaning up after ourselves is recommended especially after handling uncooked chicken or tracking mud into the living room. However, we have gone a few steps too far with antimicrobial everything including hand sanitizers in every room and antibacterial coatings on every surface. The medical community is just now seeing the result of the attempt to artificially sterilize our children's every experience.
MRSA, a bacteria previous known as a nosocomial infection (meaning it was almost exclusively seen after an in-hospital exposure) is now an increasingly common bacterial strain that has found its way into locker rooms, schools and basic public environments. In part, our germaphobic generation has stunted the natural progression of our children's immune systems. By underexposing them to common household germs, we have left them with a short-sighted immune response. The first five years, the body is on full developmental mode and all those annoying infections that children in daycare or public settings like church or temple encounter (6-10 infections on average every year per child under 3 between October and February alone) are the natural way to build a strong immune system.
Now no one is recommending purposefully exposing children to harmful bacteria or viruses, however, every object in our home does not need to be hermetically sealed. The hand sanitizer needs to be thrown out as it contains dangerous amounts of alcohol and could cause severe kidney and liver damage if swallowed even in small amounts and we just don't need a cabinet full of disinfectants to be good moms. Wash your hands and your kid's hands regularly with your good old fashioned soap and water - the scrubbing action is really what does the trick anyways - and do regular house cleaning. But there is no need to follow your child around with hand sanitizers, antibacterial soaps or waste time developing an anxiety disorder over the public restroom. Germs are a part of life and they have their own purpose in the overall scheme of things.".
Jennifer Says:
"Can we hermetically seal our children in a bacteria free bubble?The scene is all too familiar - a typical household, happy children playing while the mom looks on in bliss. Switch to a close-up of the counter top and the animation of bacteria fe re stering and lying in wait to infect the clueless family with all sorts of unknown diseases. Cleaning up after ourselves is recommended especially after handling uncooked chicken or tracking mud into the living room. However, we have gone a few steps too far with antimicrobial everything including hand sanitizers in every room and antibacterial coatings on every surface. The medical community is just now seeing the result of the attempt to artificially sterilize our children's every experience.
MRSA, a bacteria previous known as a nosocomial infection (meaning it was almost exclusively seen after an in-hospital exposure) is now an increasingly common bacterial strain that has found its way into locker rooms, schools and basic public environments. In part, our germaphobic generation has stunted the natural progression of our children's immune systems. By underexposing them to common household germs, we have left them with a short-sighted immune response. The first five years, the body is on full developmental mode and all those annoying infections that children in daycare or public settings like church or temple encounter (6-10 infections on average every year per child under 3 between October and February alone) are the natural way to build a strong immune system.
Now no one is recommending purposefully exposing children to harmful bacteria or viruses, however, every object in our home does not need to be hermetically sealed. The hand sanitizer needs to be thrown out as it contains dangerous amounts of alcohol and could cause severe kidney and liver damage if swallowed even in small amounts and we just don't need a cabinet full of disinfectants to be good moms. Wash your hands and your kid's hands regularly with your good old fashioned soap and water - the scrubbing action is really what does the trick anyways - and do regular house cleaning. But there is no need to follow your child around with hand sanitizers, antibacterial soaps or waste time developing an anxiety disorder over the public restroom. Germs are a part of life and they have their own purpose in the overall scheme of things.".
In addition to working with "Moms on Call" and her role as pediatric nurse, Jennifer is a mother of 3, author, parent educator and co-founder of http://www.momsoncall.com/.
Jennifer is 39 and resides in Woodstock Georgia with her husband and three sons; Grayson 11 yrs. and 8 year old twins Hamilton and Bryce.
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